Report Names States with ‘Least Active’ Residents

Residents of some states exercise more regularly than others to exercise according to Gallup’s Well-Being Index. While residents in Vermont are the most likely to exercise, residents in Delaware are the least likely to get in regular exercise.

States were ranked according to the number of respondents who said they exercise three or more days a week for at least 30 minutes.

In Delaware, only 46.5 percent of residents get regularly weekly exercise. For comparison, the fittest state, Vermont, has 65.3 percent of residents exercising several times a week.

The No. 2 least active state is West Virginia, with only 47.1 percent of residents saying they exercise three or more times weekly.

Alabama residents did slightly better with 47.5 percent of residents saying they exercise throughout the week, placing the city at No. 3.

Residents of New Jersey (No. 4) are not that likely to exercise three or more times a week: 47.7 percent of residents reported they do.

Just over 48 percent of Rhode Island (No. 5) residents exercise for 30 minutes or more several times a week.

The second half of the list are all close in the percentage of their residents that get adequate exercise, but all fall below 50 percent.

The No. 6 state, Tennessee, has 49.2 percent, and New York, at No. 7, was only slightly better with 49.3 percent.

New York tied with Ohio (No. 8), which also had 49.3 percent of its residents exercising regularly. An Ohio city also made a recent list of most obese U.S. cities: Toledo, where 34.2 percent of residents are considered obese.

Indiana (No. 9) was only 0.1 percent better, at 49.4 percent of the population exercising three or more times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes.

The last state on the list, South Carolina, was the best of the worst with 49.7 percent of its residents regularly engaging in exercise.